The Aldrich Alert
Gary Aldrich

A Publication of
the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty

I Hate to Be the One to Say
I Told You So, But...

by Gary Aldrich - Volume 1 Issue 2

The first step to overcoming a situation
is to admit you have a problem. Last week, the Washington Times
conducted an intervention for the Clinton State Department. Yet another
security lapse was uncovered by reporters at the Washington Times,
despite State Department claims that its security was tightened after
a Russian bug was found in its headquarters.

The latest known breech took place at the
Diplomatic Communication Center, or State Department Annex 43, in Fairfax,
Virginia. Security measures were bypassed when the Times reporter jiggled
the knob and was admitted. Although the reporter did not have an electronic
identification card, the private security guard opened the door without
even asking for identification. Amazingly, this one "guard"
is all that stands between the building and any potential spies or terrorists.

This latest security lapse only highlights
the Clinton-Gore Administrationís failure to secure vital American technology
and intelligence.

At long last, former U.S. government physicist,
Wen Ho Lee, was indicted last week on 59 criminal charges. He was fired
from Los Alamos National Laboratory for security violations. Lee had high-level
security clearance and worked on research and design of nuclear weapons.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said the indictment was
an "overdue step" and that early mistakes by the Justice Department
may "prevent the American people from ever learning what Wen Ho Lee
did with the classified information he illegally transferred to a non-secure
computer."

The facts are alarmingly clear. The
Times reported that an audit by State Department Inspector General
Jacqueline Williams-Bridgers found that visitors, contractors and maintenance
workers were allowed to roam freely, unescorted, all over State Department
headquarters. The practice was supposedly stopped, but ABC News reported
that as many as 150 foreigners a day were accessing the building and 140
rooms at State had not yet been swept for listening devices.

The cause of our national security breeches
can be addressed with one word: "priorities." Vice President
Gore, in his attempt to "reinvent" government, has eliminated
strategic safeguards needed to properly identify and address security
risks. Protection of our national secrets is of such little concern to
those in the White House today, that most State Department buildings are
severely undermanned, and are forced to use private, poorly prepared security
guards. One source even told the Times, "...we have been complaining
constantly that there is only one officer... no one has listened to us."
Another security source said that the number of guards working inside
the building was once higher, but has slowly dwindled to one per shift.